Wedding Belles [Hardcover]

Haywood Smith (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 2, 2008

The New York Times bestselling author of The Red Hat Club fearlessly takes on mothers and daughters, wedding madness, and midlife passion in this frank, funny, and fabulous new novel.

Georgia, Linda, Diane, Teeny, and Pru have been best friends since high school, and never have they needed one another more. Georgia’s precious twenty-eight-year-old daughter, Callie, has gone and gotten engaged. Usually this would be cause for celebration. After all, this is the South, where dreams of white dresses and wedding bells are as important as finding the perfect hat. But Callie’s intended groom just happens to be a man they went to high school and college with: Wild Man Wade! These women know more about the groom than the bride does. His drunken shenanigans. His wild oats. And all of his conquests as well as his mistakes. They can imagine him in the most inappropriate of circumstances, but not as a son-in-law!

With absolutely hilarious Southern observances and dead-on wit about mothers, daughters, marriage, and families, Wedding Belles will have you laughing and crying whether you live above or below the Mason-Dixon line.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The Atlanta chapter of the Red Hat Club—Georgia, Teeny, Diane, Linda and Pru—meets again, sharing tea and sympathy in Smith's wry sequel to The Red Hat Club Rides Again. A frantic Georgia takes center stage as she deals with the disturbing news that her 27-year-old daughter, Callie, is engaged to 60-year-old Wade Wild Man Bowman. Wade, a successful florist, is also a recovering alcoholic and a divorced father with adult children and a warehouse full of baggage. Georgia tries to halt the nuptials, but her interference leads to unfortunate repercussions. Pru, meanwhile, becomes an instant grandmother when one of her son's ex-flings turns up, gravely ill, with a sweet little girl; and Linda endures an annoying visit from her widowed cousin. Smith's fizzy exploration of enduring friendship and family signals more changes ahead for Georgia, her family and the red hat matrons. Fans of the series will enjoy and look forward to the next. (Sept.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

A bad case of wedding-bell blues has colored Georgia’s Red Hat world when her daughter Callie announces her engagement to Wade—aka “Wild Man”—Bowman, a divorced man old enough to be her father. The fact that he actually is her father’s best friend is only one of the complications unnerving Georgia, who all too clearly remembers the alcohol-infused, womanizing college days that earned Wade his nickname and reputation. As visions of Wade’s youthful indiscretions dance nonstop through Georgia’s head, she enlists the help of fellow Red Hat friends Teeny, Diane, Linda, and Pru to help her find a way to stop the wedding. However, when Callie finds out the lengths to which Georgia is willing to go, she decides that it’s her mother who must be stopped instead. As Callie’s wedding nears, Georgia must learn how to make peace with her friend’s past for the sake of her daughter’s future. Another heartwarming and hilarious installment in Smith’s beloved Red Hat series. --Carol Haggas

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 368 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press; First Edition edition (September 2, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312329733
• ISBN-13: 978-0312329730
• Product Dimensions: 9.7 x 6.5 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #878,973 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

New York Times best-selling author Haywood Smith did not start writing till she was forty. Seven years of learning, writing, and rewriting later, St. Martins Press published the first of six critically acclaimed, best-selling historical novels about "strong women, hunky heroes, accurate history, and upbeat endings."

After a devastating divorce left her financially destitute, she switched to writing humorous Southern women's fiction about Baby Boomer women who help each other through their various trials with creativity, loyalty, and lots of fun, earning Haywood a place on the New York Times best seller list. ("I sent my ex a thank-you note.")

Haywood adored her mother-in-law, who lived across the street for twenty-five years, then moved in at Haywood's invitation after the divorce. In her mother-in-law's memory, Haywood wrote a fun, helpful handbook titled THE TWELVE SACRED TRADITIONS OF MAGNIFICENT MOTHERS-IN-LAW.

Haywood loves to do stand-up comedy about her life (It's been wild.) and waives her speaker's fee for women's charity fundraisers, Red Hat regional meetings, and Friends of the Library groups. Contact her at [e-mail] with EVENT in the subject line for particulars.

She also loves to hear from her fans at [e-mail] and personally answers all her e-mails.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Red Hats Ride Again --- Hooray for Heywood Smith!!!!!, October 12, 2008

By 

Cathi Deal (Spring, TX) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Wedding Belles (Hardcover)

If you haven't read the two prior Red Hat books, don't let this stop you from reading this one...but do yourself a favor and order those right away. Her characters are warm, witty, and the epitome of girlfriends everywhere. I liked it so much that I ordered a second copy for a friend, and I know that Amazon readers will, too.

Now I'm waiting for the next one...

Cathi Deal

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Was disappointed, September 3, 2010

By 

Gabby - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Wedding Belles (Hardcover)

I own all of the Red Hat books, so I was excited to receive Wedding Belles. I was really disappointed with this book. I found it a bit of a let down. The spark of friendship that exists between the women in the Red Hat series seemed forced in Wedding Belles. Also, where was SuSu in this book? No explanation or reason for her absense. (Did I miss something?) All in all it was just ok at best.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Enjoyable Read Many Times Over, January 5, 2010

By 

Southern Transplant (Charlotte, NC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Wedding Belles (Paperback)

I bought this book to read during summer vacation in Charleston, SC. It was so hard to put down that I finished the book within a few days! The book definitely kept me guessing as to what with happen with Callie and Wade or Callie and her mother. The women's friendships are also priceless, and anyone with a group of close girl friends will be able to identify with it. I've read the book numerous times since I first finished it, and still enjoy it every single time.